Monitoring Aerial Application Tasks and Recommending Corrective Actions

Abstract

Recommending corrective action during aerial application is provided. An unmanned aerial vehicle is navigated to a geolocation where an aerial application task is currently carried out. First sensor data is received from the unmanned aerial vehicle that characterize a quality of the aerial application task. Measures to be carried out to increase the quality of the aerial application task are determined based on the first sensor data. The measures are outputted while the aerial application task is ongoing so that the aerial application task can be adapted while the aerial application task occurs.

Description

BACKGROUND1. Field[0001]The disclosure relates generally to aerial application and more specifically to monitoring an aerial application task being performed by an agricultural aircraft pilot over a target area using data provided by a dedicated unmanned aerial vehicle and recommending corrective actions based on the data to ensure the task is performed correctly and to decrease a level of risk while the task is ongoing.2. Description of the Related Art[0002]Agricultural aircraft may be operated to perform various aerial application tasks over farmland, such as, for example, spraying crops with pesticide (i.e., crop dusting) or with fertilizer (i.e., aerial topdressing) and sowing seeds. Using agricultural aircraft for aerial applications may be more convenient than using other agricultural machinery, especially when dealing with large fields or muddy soil. When dealing with large fields or muddy soil, using trailed sprayers may require more time, may not be financially convenient, ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]According to one illustrative embodiment, a method for recommending corrective action during aerial application is provided. An unmanned aerial vehicle is navigated to a geolocation where an aerial application task is currently carried out. First sensor data is received from the unmanned aerial vehicle that characterize a quality of the aerial application task. Measures to be carried out to increase the qu

Problems solved by technology

When dealing with large fields or muddy soil, using trailed sprayers may require more time, may not be financially convenient, or may simply not be possible if the terrain is rendered inaccessible due to unfavorable conditions, such as the presence of deep mud.

However, aerial application by agricultural aircraft can be a challenging and risky task, which is usually done by flying the agricultural aircraft close to the ground.

If aerial application does not cover a spot of land in the target area that should have been covered, then negative consequences may exist.

For example, if the agricultural aircraft pilot does not proper

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